@lisalacy

As trick-or-treaters head home with their can­dy, eyes inevitably turn to the remain­ing 2017 hol­i­days. And that, of course, includes the retail extrav­a­gan­za that is Black Fri­day . Mar­keters like­ly began their prepa­ra­tions long ago, but with about four weeks remain­ing (at least as of pub­li­ca­tion), here’s a check­list – not of who’s been naughty or nice, but how to ensure your brand is opti­mized for Black Fri­day 2017. Step 1: Start early. Bran­don Chopp, dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing strate­gist at fes­ti­val fash­ion brand iHeartRav­es, said he’s push­ing sales even ear­lier with what he called Black Novem­ber, or sales the entire mon­th. “ Sales don’t start on Black Fri­day any­more as most com­pa­nies start ear­lier to try to top each oth­er,” he said. And Jason Bau­man, senior SEO asso­ciate at ecom­merce con­sult­ing and opti­miza­tion firm Trin­i­ty Insight, n...